“The credibility of
the CMP program
is huge to us,”
says CIC president
Mary Power.
More than 9,000 planners have been designated
certified meeting professionals since the McLean, Va.-based
Convention Industry Council introduced the title in 1985. Over the
past 20 years, however, the meetings industry has changed
dramatically, and the CMP exam has kept pace by evolving both in
content and in geographic reach. What follows are the latest
developments affecting attainment of the industry’s premier
credential.
Analyzing the planning process
Every 10 years, the CMP board holds an extensive and thorough job
analysis, which reconsiders and updates the core competencies and
knowledge that meeting professionals should have. The last
analysis, completed in the mid-’90s, highlighted 27 areas; the
report now in the works likely will put fresh emphasis on concerns
such as security and international meetings.
The new job analysis finishes this year, though it won’t effect
changes in the test until late 2005 or early 2006. First, the new
core body of knowledge must be reviewed and translated into
questions, which then must be methodically tested with real users,
with the responses studied by two psychometricians. Only then will
the questions be ready for planners’ eyes.
If, after all these checks to ensure fairness, a planner still
feels a question is unfair, she may contest it immediately after
the exam. The test committee will examine the question one
additional time and throw it out if the complaint is valid. “We
take the feedback very seriously,” says CIC president Mary
Power.
International testing
Last fall, the CIC reaped the first fruits of its
long-standing initiative to bring the certification to the
international stage, when 19 CMPs emerged from a group of 23
meeting planners who took the exam in Singapore. To offer a test
comparable to the one given in the United States, the CIC had to
rework the entire program.
To begin with, the program was audited for two years to rid it
of bias toward Americans. Today, the questions for all tests taken
outside of the United States are subjected to a cultural review by
a local CMP or senior meeting planner one hour before the exam.
Expressions that are not common outside the States are explained to
students, including terms such as “convention services manager” and
“exhibits,” the latter generally called “stands” in Singapore.
The cultural review is held at the last minute to eliminate the
risk of questions being leaked, notes Mary Power. “The credibility
of the program is huge to us,” she says.
In addition, the CIC has added a seat on the CMP board, which
devises the certification test, for a specialist in international
meetings. The first such delegate is Beate Ewing, CMP, a German
planner working at a medical meetings firm in New York City. The
exam itself soon will feature more of an international focus.
Why the global emphasis? Even if planners aren’t organizing
international meetings right now, says Power, they might someday.
She adds, “Even if you never book a meeting outside America, you
likely will have attendees from outside. You will at least need to
know what the differences are.”
To supply content in this subject area, the CIC is adding an
international supplement to the Convention Industry Council Manual
this summer, to be written exclusively by planners from outside the
United States.
Though it is too early to tell if the international sweep of
the exam will reach domestic levels of saturation (currently the
test is administered in 26 sites across the United States and
Canada), Singapore marks only the beginning of the CMP’s
international tour. On May 11, the test will be administered in
Frankfurt, Germany. The first exam in Mexico likely will take place
this summer in Mexico City. Future sites being discussed include
Belgium and Italy.
To spread the word about certification throughout the world,
the CMP Ambassador Program, begun in January, asks current CMPs to
tell partners abroad about the exam’s merits. In addition, via
telephone, participating U.S. planners will answer questions and
reassure those beginning the process overseas.
CMPs who maintain a list of contacts in other countries and who
can spare about two hours per month for at least six months can
sign up; in return, they will receive 1.5 recertification points
for every six months of diplomatic service.
An Avenue for Personal Growth
The Convention Industry Council this year is starting the CMP Personal Development Program, a skills-assessment process available to any CMP or co-worker. To begin with, the planner takes an online or a printed test. Next, a career coach from leadership-development consultants Leadership Synergies LLC, based in Prince Frederick, Md., reviews the results and conducts a one-hour phone interview with the participant to discuss the relative strengths and weaknesses revealed by the test. By the end, the planner has hammered out a basic plan for career development.
For the following year, the planner will work with the career coach via e-mail and telephone to stay on track with those goals outlined at the start. A formal review of progress will take place every three months.
The program costs just $375 for the first 100 CMPs who sign up, and $495 thereafter. Planners who are referred by CMPs can take it, too, though it will cost them $615. A 10 percent discount applies to groups of 10 or more. For more information, contact the CIC at (703) 610-9030;
www.conventionindustry.org. - J.V.
Recertification
Last year, the CIC offered an amnesty program for those
planners who had let their CMP certification lapse. Planners had a
few months to earn recertification points and apply for a
continuation.
The CIC made the process even simpler by allowing planners to
report recertification points on the honor system; before, planners
had to provide documentation of educational sessions attended. “It
used to require so much paperwork,” says Power.
Instead, the CIC performs spot checks on applicants; i.e.,
staff will contact the educational convention to confirm that the
CMP applicant attended.
This year, the amnesty for lapsed CMPs is over. Planners must
retake the exam to maintain the prestigious designation. However,
taking the test again is better than the alternative:
litigation.
CIC staff members read registration lists for industry events
to find planners who still append the three letters to their names
without having been recertified. For such cases, the CIC will send
a year’s worth of reminders about recertification before sending a
cease and desist order. Fortunately, such cases are rare.